Hanx Writer, the typewriter app created by Oscar-winning actor Tom Hanks, has topped the Apple iTunes Store chart. The app comes in three versions for the iPad, with the most basic version available for free.

Tom HanksTom Hanks at the BAFTA's [Getty/Anthony Harvey]

Hanks said he was inspired to create the app by the charming experience of typing on a real typewriter - Hanx Writer features clicks and the unmistakable "ding" as the machine drops to the next line.

More: Tom Hanks set to reunite with Spielberg for Cold War movie

More: Tom Hanks + Steven Spielberg = one potentilly incredible movie

"In the late '70's, I bought a typewriter - portable enough for world travel and sturdy enough to survive decades of ten-fingered beatings," says Hanks on the app's official page. "I've since acquired many more - each different in design, action, and sound. Each one stamps into paper a permanent trail of imagination through keys, hammers, cloth and dye - a softer version of chiseling words into stone."

Peter MdiarmidTom Hanks' typewriter app is available for iPad now [Getty/Peter Mdiarmid]

Despite its archaic theme, Hanx Writer enables scribes to print, email or share documents as well as saving for future drafts and revisions. The $2.99 version offers support for saving multiple documents and lets writers choose background colors, as well as text alignment. 

Hanx Writer works on iPads running iOS 7.0 or later.

Tom Hanks is currently filming Meg Ryan's drama Ithaca, about a teenage boy left to care for his family after the death of his father and the departure of his older brother for World War II. The movie is set for release on New Years' Eve 2015.